Her Majesty’s Canadian Ship Oriole, a sailing ketch and the longest-serving commissioned ship in the Royal Canadian Navy, is coming home to Boston next month.

According to a July 10, 1921 article from the Boston Daily Globe, the 60-foot waterline auxiliary ketch was built by George Lawley using blueprints from famous yacht designer and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) professor of naval architecture George Owen.

MIT sailing director Walter C. “Jack” Wood told the Boston Daily Globe in 1959, shortly after Owen’s death, that Owen “probably had a greater influence on American yacht design” than almost anyone. When the senior yacht designer died, MIT’s flags flew at half-mast, according to a 1959 edition of MIT’s The Tech. The Owen family, although originally from Canada, have lasting ties to Boston. Owen’s son, George Owen, Jr., played for the Bruins from 1928 to 1933 and later taught at Milton Academy.

The Oriole was considered “the most advanced example of marine architecture freshwater had seen yet” by the Royal Canadian Yacht Club when it made its 1921 debut. The ship was built for George H. Gooderham of Toronto, commodore of the Royal Canadian Yacht Club, and has since been employed as a naval training vessel and a racing boat.

(Editor's Note: Construction work on the Oriole IV began in Toronto at Toronto Dominion Shipbuilding Company. However, labor troubles closed the yard, and the majority of the ship was completed in Boston.)

The Oriole now sails on a short trip around the Western Hemisphere. It departed from Canadian Forces Base Esquimalt in British Columbia on March 16, setting sail down the West Coast and through the Panama Canal, then through the Caribbean and north along the East Coast. So far, ports of call have included San Diego, California; Puerto Vallarta, Mexico; and Port Royal, Jamaica.

HMCS Oriole: The 60-foot ketch was built at Port Norfolk’s George Lawley & Son shipyard in 1921.

“We’re racing from Bermuda to Boston, so we’re hoping to make it in long before the 18th,” Lt. Tom Eagle, executive officer of the Oriole, said in an e-mail to the Reporter. “The festival starts on the 17th, so at the latest, we’ll be alongside at some point that day.”

The Oriole is one of 50 ships from 13 countries participating in Sail Boston, an official port of the Rendez-vous Tall Ships Regatta. Festivities will be held from June 17 through June 21 along the Boston and Charlestown waterfronts.

“In Bermuda, we will be meeting the Rendez-vous 2017 fleet to take part in a series of festivals, including in Boston,” Eagle said. “[Rendez-vous] will also play a large part in the Canada 150 celebrations in Atlantic Canada in July and August.”

The ship has maintained an active social media presence throughout its journey, including a Facebook page and Twitter profile. Eagle said the Oriole crew has been “conducting as much local engagement as possible” at their ports of call, most recently presenting to a primary school in Port Royal, Jamaica.

“This is Oriole’s second time visiting the East Coast since she originally moved West in 1954,” Eagle said.

“The last time she took part in Tall Ships events was 1984, and she’s made several offshore voyages since; including Australia in 1999 and several Victoria to Maui races in the late 90s and early 2000s.” The Oriole additionally won a prestigious race in the 2001 Cadillac Van Isle 360.

The ship normally sails with just five experienced crew—commanding officer Lt. Cmdr. Mike Wills, a coxswain, engineer, cook, and a chief boatswain’s mate—but for this trip, the Navy added additional people, including Eagle, a navigator, physician’s assistant, extra engineer, weapons technician, and assistant chief boatswain’s mate. Others aboard the Oriole were selected from across the Canadian Armed Forces, according to Eagle.

The Oriole will turn 96 on June 21, the last day of Sail Boston, in the city where it was built.